скачать книгу бесплатно
Welcome Home, Bobby Winslow
Christyne Butler
Dare to dream… these sparkling romances will make you laugh, cry and fall in love – again and again!Were they always each other’s destiny?Bobby Winslow was always fast. But no matter how many races he won, the sexy, sought-after racing driver could never quite catch up with her. Leeann Harris. His former love, who’d broken his heart when she turned him down for the bright lights and paparazzi flashbulbs of a modelling career in New York.Once, their love was the talk of the town – Leeann, the beauty with a bright future; Bobby, the boy with something to prove. Then they both crashed and burned. Maybe now they can help each other see that they both had something more precious all along.
“Destiny is a small town with real people living normal lives.
“They worry about keeping their jobs, paying their bills and finding a way to put their kids through college. But you know all that, Bobby, because you once lived in this town. Back when you made a promise not to set foot in it again until you could return a big success with all the money in the world.”
An icy wave coursed through him, despite the warmth of the sun hitting his back. Yes, he’d said all that—and more—the day she’d chosen a shot at the glamorous life of high-fashion modeling over being his teenage bride.
“What can I say?” His reply came out clipped, sharp as a shard of glass. “Mission accomplished.”
Dear Reader,
In this age of technology that allows people to connect across the miles and across the years, there probably isn’t much mystery left to that old question, “I wonder whatever happened to …?” When it comes to first loves, the answer is usually a click away, but for some avoidance is the only answer.
When Leeann and Bobby’s future plans took their teenage love in a direction neither of them planned, the last thing they expected was to one day end up right back where it all began. But sometimes love, and life, surprises a person in a way they never imagined.
So is an unexpected reunion an opportunity to set the record straight, right old wrongs, offer explanations with the insight only available after time has passed? Or is it another chance to find that part of yourself that’s been missing all along?
Leeann and Bobby are about to find out.
Happy reading!
Christyne Butler
About the Author
CHRISTYNE BUTLER fell in love with romance novels while serving in the United States Navy and started writing her own stories six years ago. She considers selling to Mills & Boon
a dream come true and enjoys writing contemporary romances full of life, love, a hint of laughter and perhaps a dash of danger, too. And there has to be a happily-ever-after or she’s just not satisfied. She lives with her family in central Massachusetts and loves to hear from her readers at chris@christynebutler.com. Or visit her website at www.christynebutler.com.
Welcome Home,
Bobby Winslow
Christyne Butler
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
For Tammy Gerard Hastings
Thirty-one years of friendship that’s seen everything from first loves to new beginnings.
Here’s to always believing it’s never too late to live happily ever after.
And
Extra special thanks to Charles for being such an amazing editor.
Chapter One
Bobby Winslow was back in town.
According to the front page of the local paper there had yet to be an official sighting of the man who’d been voted “Best Hands (When it comes to working on cars)” in high school. But that didn’t matter. The reporter was certain the town’s bad boy, who’d spent the past six years rising to the number one spot in America’s Cup Pro Racing stock car circuit, was on his way home.
Deputy Leeann Harris gave an indelicate snort and tossed the newspaper into the backseat of her cruiser.
She had to.
Otherwise she’d be tempted to take her eyes off the curvy mountain road to look again at the photos beneath the bold headline, including one taken just a few days ago when Bobby had been wheeled out of an injury rehabilitation center; it was the first time he’d been seen in five months. He’d struggled to his feet and spoken briefly, thanking those who took care of him after his accident and stating he was looking forward to continuing his recovery at home.
Home.
Everyone around town assumed that meant Destiny, Wyoming.
Never mind that Bobby had left at the age of eighteen with a vow to never step foot back inside the county limits. A vow made during a fervent outburst filled with the hurt and anger of a broken teenage heart.
A vow directed straight at her.
Of course, she’d made her own vow that spring day fourteen years ago.
This time it took the physical shaking of her head to force Leeann’s mind back to the road ahead, both figuratively and literally.
She refused to get mired down in the past. Not today.
Using a technique she’d learned long ago to center herself in the here and now, Leeann mentally cataloged her surroundings starting with the beautiful late September day outside her windshield.
The sky was a dazzling shade of blue, sharp and piercing, perfect for squinting eyes and almost impossible to look away from. Birch, ash and maple trees stood tall and majestic on either side of the road. Their green leaves were giving way to the blazing yellows, oranges and fiery reds of autumn, while the smattering of pines and blue spruces stubbornly refused to let go of their glorious emerald needles.
The winding road wore a fresh coat of blacktop, like it’d pulled on a warm woolen jacket in preparation for another Wyoming winter of snow and ice. But when she rolled down the window and pulled in a deep breath, the air still held the lingering warmth of summer.
“What a beautiful day to be unemployed,” she said to herself. Technically she wasn’t out of work until her shift ended in—she glanced at her watch—two more hours. After that, her three years with the Destiny, Wyoming, sheriff department would come to an end.
Budget cuts. Last hired, first fired. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Deputy Ben Dwyer had started a full month after her, but with a wife and two kids, Ben needed to keep his job. When word leaked out about the need to cut the department’s staff by one, Leeann had gone straight into her boss’s office.
It was time.
Moving on was something she’d been thinking about for a while now. After witnessing her two best friends finding true love with the men of their dreams and settling down in the past year, she was willing to admit, at least to herself, she was feeling a bit restless. Not for love, home or marriage like Maggie and Racy had found, but she did want something.
Something more.
Like those many “forks in the road” her Aunt Ursula often spoke about, Leeann was ready to take the path less traveled with no idea where she was headed or what lay ahead.
The story of her life.
Pulling off the road to her favorite waiting spot that gave her a clear view down the mountain road, she slowed to a stop.
She hoped the remaining hours of her shift would be quiet, but the high school had let out almost a half hour ago. This stretch of windy road was a teenager paradise for cruising, especially on a beautiful day like today, just like it’d been years ago when she’d rode shotgun, a smile on her face and a white-knuckle grip on the seat while—
A loud whoosh filled her ears. An oversize vehicle raced by so fast the draft caused the chassis beneath her to rock back and forth.
What the—
Was that a Winnebago?
Leeann flipped on her lights and siren and tore out after the jumbo motor home as it disappeared around the first turn. She lost sight of it, but there was nowhere for a vehicle that size to turn off for a least a mile. She pressed on the accelerator and roared over the next small hill, spotting the RV ahead as it pulled to the side of the road.
With no room to move in behind, she was forced to park in front, angling her cruiser nose in. Keeping an eye on her rearview mirror, she finished her call to dispatch that included the North Carolina license plate number and stepped out of the car.
Pushing her short hair back from her face, Leeann settled the Destiny Sheriff Department ball cap on her head.
Tourists. Probably a senior citizen with a lead foot.
She paused at the rear of her car, one hand inches from her weapon, and assessed the situation. Nice and quiet. So far, so good, except that thanks to the angle of the sun she couldn’t make out the people inside the camper other than the fact there were two of them. At least.
She moved a few steps closer, motioning with one hand.
The driver understood and slid his window open. “Is there a problem, Officer?”
Okay, that was no grandpa.
The man leaning out the window had cropped salt-and-pepper hair and dark sunglasses obscuring his eyes. His arm was bigger than her thigh. The sleeve of his black T-shirt hugged the well-developed biceps, revealing a tattoo she couldn’t quite make out.
“Please step out of the vehicle.” There was no way she was dealing with this guy from where he sat three feet above her. “And bring your license and registration with you.”
“I’m going to have to use the rear door.” He patted the smooth surface beneath his hand. “We’re having trouble with this one.”
“Fine.”
He offered a quick grin and ducked back inside.
Leeann watched as he talked to his passenger, gesturing with his hands before he moved out of his seat and disappeared from view. She walked back along the side of her cruiser, keeping it between her and the camper.
Eyeing the motor home, she noticed it looked brand-new and custom-made with its fancy paint job and tinted windows, but she was still surprised at how it’d zoomed by her.
The shade from tall trees to her left made it easier to see, and she paused on the other side of her car, her gaze on the person still sitting in the front of the camper.
A man, also wearing sunglasses, his with mirrored lenses, and a weathered ball cap on his head turned backward. He’d glanced her way through the window.
Seconds later, he did the classic double take.
Leeann held her ground and his gaze. Thanks to his sunglasses she couldn’t be sure, but instinct and years of experience told her he was checking her out from the top of her ball cap to the tips of her steel-toed boots.
His scrutiny caused a heated flush to steal over her skin. It’d been many years since she’d had a physical reaction to a man’s gaze. A tinge of annoyance mixed with the surprise coursing through her.
Why now? Why him?
Did she somehow know this guy?
No, that was crazy.
The stranger finally turned away and she blamed her body’s response on the warmth of the Indian summer afternoon.
Still, it’d been a long time since she’d gotten that kind of response from someone. When she’d first started working as a deputy sheriff, it had happened often when she pulled someone over, be it a local or an out-of-town tourist who recognized her. But other than one of those celebrity magazines doing a “where are they now” profile on her a couple of years ago, Leeann was far removed from the bright lights and big city of her former life.
Did he know who she was? Or, more precisely, who she used to be?
Maybe he just didn’t like the law. Except the tiny hitch that pulled at one corner of his mouth had her thinking he’d been about to smile. To flirt his way out of a ticket?
Just then the rear door of the camper opened and out stepped a giant of a man.
He was easily over six feet tall, the rest of him as powerfully put together as that one arm he’d displayed out the window. The black T-shirt stretched tautly over his wide chest, matching black jeans fit him like a second skin and the scuffed work boots gave him a couple of extra unnecessary inches in height.
He walked toward her, his gaze locked with hers. Other than her usual watchfulness that was part of the job, she felt none of the physical effects from a moment ago during that silent exchange with his passenger.
With no time to figure out why, Leeann pushed the thought aside when the driver stopped a few feet from her. He offered another grin that appeared too good-hearted to be artificial and held out his hand.
She took the paperwork, looked at his driver’s license first then glanced back at him. “Dean Zippenella?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The picture on the New Jersey license matched the man in front of her, but his full name? “Dean Martin Zippenella?”
His grin widened as he shrugged. “I come from a large Italian family and my Nonni was a big fan. Most people call me Zip or Zippy.”
“You should meet his brothers Frank and Joey.”
Leeann glanced up as the guy still in the camper spoke. That voice. Barely above a whisper, and still the measured tone easily carried across the distance to where she stood. She hated to say it sounded familiar, because it didn’t, but still a nugget of awareness tugged inside her.
She then noticed the dog in his lap, its two front paws on the window frame. Bland canine features spoke of a mongrel heritage and its coat was a mix of browns and tans, except for the solid patch of black over one eye.
“As in Frank Sinatra and Joey Bishop?” she said, looking between the two men.
Both nodded.
“Which one are you?” she asked the guy in the camper.
“Huh?” The hand scratching at the dog’s ears stilled.
“Are you two related?” she pushed.
“No.”
“Yes.”
Their overlapping answers had her moving her gaze back and forth in suspicion. “Is my question too confusing?”
The driver crossed his arms over the impressive width of his chest. “We’re not blood, but we’re close as family can be.”
